Foreword

• Date: 01 January 2011

Foreword

Mr John Costello

President of the Law Society of Ireland

I am honoured and delighted to write the foreword to the 2011 edition of

the Hibernian Law Journal. As a solicitor who formerly lectured and

tutored in the Law School, and who was employed in the Law School for

eighteen months in the late 1980s, in Blackhall Place, I am proud to be

associated with such a publication co-ordinated by trainee and newly-

qualified solicitors.

Indeed, as I read all the superbly written and well argued academic

articles it made me wish I had the time to write a similar article on my area

of practice in elder client law. The work of most solicitors rarely involves

giving detailed legal opinions based on substantial academic research and

that is something which I miss from our student days. On reflection, every

solicitor has to attend Continuing Professional Development (“CPD”)

lectures or modules each year. Perhaps part of the CPD requirement could

be achieved by producing an academic legal paper of a minimum length,

which attains a certain standard of excellence.

When I was in University College Dublin in the 1970s there were very

few Irish legal text books and even fewer Irish legal journals of an academic

nature. The Irish Jurist was an exception to the rule and I enjoyed perusing

and studying all the learned articles in that publication, mainly by judges

and academics, which were a joy to read.

The articles in this edition of the Hibernian Law Journal are on a par

with any work written by a judge or academic. They are all superbly well

researched with details of all their sources. Each piece of work was very

clearly and succinctly written and the arguments supporting the author’s

ideas were very well presented and articulated. Indeed, what I particularly

liked was that nearly every article argued cogently for Law Reform on the

topics in question. Finally, I really appreciated the fact that each author had

a passion for the cause he or she was espousing.

The first article, on the eligibility of blind or deaf people for jury service,

by Ciara Boyle, particularly interested me as I act for many parents who

have a child with a learning disability. I was very pleased to note that the

Free Legal Advice Centre have made a successful legal challenge on behalf

of a client, Joan Clarke, which strengthened the position of deaf people

serving on juries. The work of the Free Legal Advice Centre is a wonderful

service to the community. The author concludes that the Juries Act 1976

needs serious clarification regarding the issue of blind or deaf people serving

as jurors and that reform of the present legislation is required.

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